Brain Tumor Translational Targets

Our Research

Glioblastoma stem-like cells (GSCs), which play a crucial role in tumor relapse, exhibit strong resistance to conventional chemo- and radiotherapy due to their robust self-renewal capacity. The primary goal of the research group is to identify molecular dependencies in GSCs to uncover novel therapeutic targets and improve patient outcomes.

Our main strategy involves functional screens using gene knock-down and fungal extract libraries to identify new candidate molecules to treat for glioblastoma patients. We integrate in silico data from high-throughput -OMICS technologies to our functional screen results to shed light on how to achieve better patient stratification and we design combinatorial treatments to optimize current treatment efficacy. More recently, our team has also developed a single-cell strategy to assess drug penetration in the brain and has begun exploring nanoparticle-based drug delivery systems to improve therapeutic efficiency.

Targeting GSCs to achieve complete degeneration of glioblastoma; a) Currently, the resistance of GSCs to radio- and chemotherapy allows this rare subpopulation of cells to persist after GBM treatment. Patients relapse with an aggressive tumour enriched in GSCs. b) Targeting GSCs with additional therapeutics will deplete this resistant sub-population, allowing complete degeneration of the tumour.

Projects

Overcoming drug resistance remains a major challenge in treating aggressive cancers. While advances in single-cell sequencing and spatial transcriptomics have improved our understanding of cancer therapies, current technologies cannot determine whether a drug has successfully penetrated specific cells or tissues or assess its precise effects. To address this, we are developing an innovative DNA barcoding technology for small molecules, enabling the detection and quantification of drugs within single-cell RNA sequencing and spatial transcriptomics data. This approach aims to revolutionize how we study drug efficacy and resistance at the single-cell level.

Team

Dr. Violaine Goidts

Research Group Leader
Dr. Emma Phillips

Postdoc
Sized van Enk

PhD student
Gabriele Müller

Technical Assistant

Selected Publications

2024 - ACS Nano. 18(3):2500-2519.

Proteomic, Metabolomic, and Fatty Acid Profiling of Small Extracellular Vesicles from Glioblastoma Stem-Like Cells and Their Role in Tumor Heterogeneity

Lokumcu T, Iskar M, Schneider M, Helm D, Klinke G, Schlicker L, Bethke F, Müller G, Richter K, Poschet G, Phillips E, Goidts V.

2022 - Neuro Oncol. 5;24(1):39-51.

A novel patient stratification strategy to enhance the therapeutic efficacy of dasatinib in glioblastoma.

lhalabi OT, Fletcher MNC, Hielscher T, Kessler T, Lokumcu T, Baumgartner U, Wittmann E, Schlue S, Göttmann M, Rahman S, Hai L, Hansen-Palmus L, Puccio L, Nakano I, Herold-Mende C, Day BW, Wick W, Sahm F, Phillips E, Goidts V.

2022 - Oncogenesis. 17;11(1):57.

FKFB4 interacts with FBXO28 to promote HIF-1? signaling in glioblastoma.

Phillips E, Balss J, Bethke F, Pusch S, Christen S, Hielscher T, Schnölzer M, Fletcher MNC, Habel A, Tessmer C, Brenner LM, Göttmann M, Capper D, Herold-Mende C, von Deimling A, Fendt SM, Goidts V.